Sangamon
County Rifle Association
Right Reason on Second Amendment Rights
Springfield, Illinois
Right Reason on Second Amendment Rights
Springfield, Illinois
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Sangamon
County Rifle Association
Right Reason on Second Amendment Rights Springfield, Illinois |
|
 .50
BMG!
Phil Davis SCRA Meeting, March 6, 2006 April GunNews Davis intended to continue last month's talk on medieval warfare with the history of medieval body armor. Now, while he hadn't had a great desire to own a .50 caliber rifle in the past, Illinois politicians have changed his mind. Yes a good number of legislators (supporters of HB2414) in the State of Illinois have publicly opined that he didn't need one and shouldn't own one. That was enough. "By gosh, I'm going to go out and get one as soon as possible! Pictured is Davis' newest toy, a Barrett M99 single shot .50 caliber bolt action rifle. He also got one or two rounds of ammunition, the exact number of which shall remain undisclosed for publication.  The Barrett M99 Photo courtesty Barrett Firearms Davis inquired of Bill Oglesby, also attending the meeting, "Bill you've got a .50 caliber too don't you?" Oglesby responded "I've got four of them." Davis said the entire thing weighs 25 pounds. You pull three pins and the whole thing falls apart. Davis said actually the recoil is not to bad for the shooter, but don't stand to the sides of it. Davis and a friend went down to southwestern Missouri and they were shooting it at 500 yards. Davis told his friend "I'm going to fire this, make sure you've got your eye protection and your ear protection on." His friend had his muffs on but he took off his sunglasses and he was standing a short distance away. Davis was lying on a shooting mat but the muzzle was down on the ground. Southwest Missouri has a lot of fine gravel and rock. When Davis fired his friend caught a pebble about the size of number 7 1/2 shot, blown up off the ground by the muzzle brake, right in the corner of the eye. Moral of the story: always, always, always, wear your eye protection! Do it even if you think that you're safe. His friend thought he was safe that far back. Again, wear your eye protection! There is a wide range of ammunition on the market for the .50 caliber. The one that most of us are familiar with is the ball ammunition. Davis passed around the various types of rounds for everyone to look at. Our snipers over in Afghanastan are using Barrett rifles and they are getting kills in excess of 2000 yards. Davis will be delivering a range report in the future. One member noted tongue in cheek he could see why politicians oppose .50 calibers. They can so easily be carried by street gangs and readily concealed. After his shooting trip, Davis spent the night in St. Louis, Missouri. He said it was refreshing to be able to get up in the morning, take what he had in his fanny pack, chamber a round, leave the magazine in, and be able to walk the streets in a free state in a free society legally carrying a handgun. Then reality hit on the way back; the demoralizing moment of pulling over to the shoulder, popping out the mag, unchambering the round, and putting the empty gun back in his fanny pack before crossing the bridge back into Illinois. Phil Davis Index Return to SCRA Home Page |